AM News: Texas (Yes, Texas) Gets NCLB Waiver

Texas Wins NCLB Waiver After Making Big Changes to Plan Politics K12: Texas was granted only a one-year waiver by Education Secretary Arne Duncan because it hasn't finalized guidelines around its teacher-evaluation system. The state can get another year of flexibility if it finishes its system and if federal officials approve it.

George W. Bush's Education Law, No Child Left Behind, Abandoned By Texas Huffington Post: According to a government document, the state has made significant "improvements" since applying.  Those tweaks include creating a system for holding schools accountable based on the administration's guidelines for identifying the best and worst schools, devising a process for consulting with teachers to implement the waiver, and promising to support teachers in transitioning to new learning standards. 

The Shutdown and Education: Your Cheat Sheet Politics K12: So it's happened: Congress was unable to reach agreement on temporary spending plan to keep the government open—and the U.S. Department of Education and other government agencies are on partial shutdown. 

Arne Duncan: Beating Up on Common Core Is 'Political Silliness' Politics K12: During a question-and-answer period, reporters pressed Duncan on why the Common Core standards have become so toxic, particularly with GOP activists. He gave his standard (no pun intended) answer: Common ore has become a lightening rod because of "political silliness", nothing more. (No mention however, of the way the Obama administration has tried to use common core to its political advantage, by including it in the Democratic Party platform in 2012, for instance.) Out in states and schools, educators have moved past the politics and are rolling up their sleeves and working on implementation, Duncan said.

Louisiana cooperating with Justice over school voucher program Washington Post: Under the supervision of a federal court, Louisiana has agreed to supply the Justice Department with data about its controversial school voucher program and to analyze whether the vouchers are re-segregating...

D.C. officials release recalculated test scores Washington Post: A tougher grading scale on the District’s 2013 standardized tests would have yielded lower-than-reported math proficiency rates for many schools, with stark differences at the middle-school level, according to data released Monday by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

The inside story on LA schools’ iPad rollout: “a colossal disaster” Hechinger Report: On Friday I spoke to two LAUSD contractors who have first-hand knowledge of the rollout. They agreed to give an insiders’ view of the controversy on background. There’s an incredible litany of problems here that reads like a primer on what NOT to do with a major deployment of technology in a school district.

Gotham: Charity Program Operated by Students at Risk NYT: The Penny Harvest program, in which children collect pennies to help others, may end if the nonprofit group that runs it has to close.